[KS] (no subject)

[ch.song at auckland.ac.nz]

Korean Studies in Shift -- The 10th Pacific-Asia Conference on Korean Studies (PACKS 2010)

When: November 24 (Wednesday) – 26 (Friday), 2010
Where: University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

The world has changed drastically in the last two decades with the growth of communication technologies and globalisation. In particular, the changes that Korea has gone through are enormous. Today’s Korean society, economy, politics, culture, and the values of its members are very different from those of two decades ago when numerous regional Korean Studies associations such as the PACKS were established. As Korea itself changes, Korean Studies has also transformed in the last two decades.  In fact, the changing realities of Korean society, culture, and economy offer an unusual experimental field for various academic disciplines and a foundation on which new theories can be built.  
It is true that Korean Studies has expanded in many parts of the world, following the growth of Korea’s influence in the spheres of the global economy, politics and culture. While Korean Studies has emerged as a popular subject at universities in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, the quality of the subject has to grow. In North America, Western Europe and Oceania, at the same time, Korean Studies did not expand as fast as it did in the regions mentioned above. Grow or not, to prosper as an academic discipline, Korean Studies, just as any other academic disciplines, must contribute to an understanding of our world. To do so, Korean Studies need to explore new objectives of research, develop new approaches, and expand its scope beyond the national borders of Korea. In addition, to prevent the study of Korea from becoming an occasional fad, we also need to encourage young scholars and researchers of other disciplines to explore new possibilities and bring new insights into Korean Studies. This will allow Korean Studies to engage in intellectual dialogue with other disciplines in humanities and social sciences. This requires a new openness within the discipline. 
‘Korean Studies in Shift’ -- the theme of the 2010 PACKS -- will exemplify how our discipline can contribute to the understanding of Korea and the world by exploring new research objects, applying new approaches, and re-evaluating Korea’s rich heritage and historical, social, cultural and political experiences. It also endeavours to explore the possibilities of building new theories based upon the changing realities of Korean society and culture in the last few decades. 
PACKS 2010 wishes to encourage younger and emerging scholars (as well as established ones), who try to develop new research areas, approaches, and theories in the discipline. By so doing, it wishes to expand the areas within Korean Studies and refine the existing traditions in the discipline. As the conference is held in New Zealand, the organisers of the conference want to utilize this opportunity to promote Korean Studies in Oceania as well as in the Pacific Island countries, where Korean Studies was almost unheard of.         

We would like to invite individual and panel proposals from both established scholars and junior scholars in any academic fields that are directly and indirectly related to Korean Studies. Proposals from postgraduate students, emerging scholars, policy makers and established scholars are encouraged. Papers that are informed by a comparative approach towards Korean studies and interdisciplinary and broader regional approaches are also welcome.     

In addition to ordinary panels and sessions in all areas of social sciences and humanities (such as history, literature, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, political studies, economics and business), we will include several panels and plenary sessions on a variety of newly emerging fields in Korean Studies such as migration studies, diaspora studies, translation of Korean Studies materials, digitisation of Korean Studies information, and Korean Studies library studies.    

The conference will be held from November 24 (Wednesday) through November 26 (Friday), 2010 at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.  New Zealand, a country that is rapidly globalising and has come to be a meeting place of peoples and cultures of the East, West, South and North, is a good place to host this kind of conferences. Late November here is early summer in season, making it an excellent time to hold such an auspicious gathering.      

Application Due Date: March 21 (Sunday), 2010.  Please send the ‘Korean Studies in Shift: PACKS 2010 Application Form’ (either Individual Paper Application or Panel Application to PACKS 2010 Administrator <packs2010 at gmail.com>.  Selected presenters and panels will be notified by March 31, 2010.  Submission of complete paper is expected by October 15, 2010. Selected papers will be published in peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings.   

Registration Fee: A nominal registration fee of US$20 (for graduate students US$10) will be charged at the registration. 

Financial Support: Depending on budget, funds would be available for paper presenters (who submit complete papers before the due date) for their lodging in Auckland during the conference dates (3 nights).  Details of the support will be announced at a later stage. 

Languages of the Conference: Either English or Korean can be used for presentations and final papers. The Application Forms and Abstracts, however, should be in English.  

Further Details and Inquiries: For further details of the conference please contact Ms. Simrin Ahmed, PACKS 2010 Administrator at <packs2010 at gmail.com>. 

A. Individual Paper Application Form
<packs2010 at gmail.com> by March 21, 2010

Title (Prof., Dr. Mr. Ms.) 	
Your Name (Last, First)	
Academic Affiliation and Address	
Preferred Postal Address (if different from above)	
E-mail:	
Telephone and Fax:	
Paper Title	
Language of Presentation	 English   or    Korean   
Abstract (250 words)
Keywords (3)	
Subject area of the submission (i.e., Anthropology, Business & Economics, Pre-modern History, Modern History, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology….)	

B. Panel Application Form

Panel Organiser
Name (Last, First) 	
Title (Prof., Dr. Mr. Ms.)	
Academic affiliation and Address	
Preferred Postal Address (if different from above)	
E-mail:	
Telephone and Fax:	
Panel Title	
Panel Description (250 words)

Panel Participants: Provide names (last, first), academic affiliation, paper title and abstract of all participants (3-4 people in a panel).